'HarfiCRKaEviiBRAiiy 


{. 


CT 


i\  c^  r 


Li-l.k,_ 


1^         (♦>> 


T 


lte...^(l  ^ 


D 


■•■•-J 


^" 


Shasta  l^oate. 


Shasta  is  the  last  grand  towering  landmark  of  the  Sierra  in  the  north,  standing  alone  in  its  white,  silent 
majestj' :  half  its  slopes  of  evergreen  and  half  of  snow,  this  crowning  glory  of  the  north  is  forever  and  from  all 
sides  overpowering  in  its  grandeur.  It  matters  not  whether  it  be  by  glimpses  through  the  pine  slopes  of  the 
Sacramento  Canyon,  from  the  broad  table  lands  of  Strawberry  and  Shasta  Valleys,  or  from  the  summit  of  the 
rugged  Siskiyous,  the  eye  turns  with  an  ever-increasing  interest  and  delight  towards  Shasta. 

There  are  immense  glaciers  in  its  awful  gorges  on  the  eastern  and  northern  sides  :  but  on  account  of  the 
almost  inaccessible  heights  and  depths  in  their  neighborhood  they  remain  for  the  most  part  in  secret  solitude  in 
their  icy  beds.  With  the  exception  of  Whitney — the  giant  of  them  all — they  have  been  designated  by  Indian 
names.  The  most  southerly  one,  which  heads  near  Thumb  Rock,  is  Konwa  Kiton  (mud  glacier),  Wintun 
(Indian  tribal  name),  Hotlum  (Steep  rock),  Bolam  (great).  From  these  great  ice  bodies  there  flow  in  summer 
myriads  of  translucent  streams  :  in  winter  old  Boreas  seals  them  up  with  his  step-mother  breath,  and  no  sound  of 
trickling  rill  is  heard  again  until  the  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  is  come. 

Shasta  is  visible  for  two  hundred  miles  of  the  Portland  route  ;  from  the  upper  Sacramento  Valley  its  pale, 
cloud-like  shaft  is  faintly  outlined  against  the  northea.stern  sky.  From  Castle  Creek  to  McCloud  fragments 
of  its  dazzling  white  tower  arc  disclo.sed  through  frame-work  of  dark-green  pine  needles  ;  at  Sisson,  the 
noonday  splendor  of  its  mighty  front  shines  down  full  upon  you  with  a  power  that  stirs  you  to  the  very  soul. 
Receding  from  it  northwards  there  are  visions  of  splintered  peaks,  lava-worn  abysms  and  beetling  crags,  their 
deep  recesses  enswathed  in  a  whiteness  like  luito  wool.  Distance  lends  a  mellow  enchantment  to  the  view,  paring 
down  the  rough  spurs,  dips  and  angles,  so  that  from  the  Klamath,  and  all  the  way  up  the  sides  of  the  Siskiyous 
this  northern  buttress  of  the  Sierra  seems  a  thing  more  of  heaven  than  earth. 


PUBLISHED     B^' 

HEHt^V     R.     KfJflPP,     SflN     FlRRNCISCO 


834859 


t^emafkable  Engineeping  along  the  "Shasta  f^oute." 


The  completion  a  few  months  ago  of  the  all-rail  line  between  San 
Francisco  and  Portland,  Or.,  marked  the  successful  termination  of 
one  of  the  most  difficult  and  costly  railway  engineering  achievements 
on  the  continent.  For  some  years  the  Southern  Pacific  Company  and 
the  Oregon  &  California  Railroad  have  been  in  operation  respectively 
from  San  Francisco  north  and  from  Portland  south,  nearly  to  the 
boundary  between  the  two  States  ;  but  the  tremendous  mountain 
ranges  which  intervened  constituted  a  barrier  not  only  discouraging 
to  those  who  were  called  upon  to  provide  mouey  for  overcoming  it, 
but  it  was  even  believed  by  some,  would  battte  the  skill  of  the  engineer 
and  the  railway  builder  if  the  completion  of  the  work  was  really 
undertaken.  The  Southern  Pacific  Company,  however,  did  under 
take  and  did  successfully  carry  through  this  great  work  ;  and  now 
the  traveler,  by  palace  car  between  the  chief  cities  of  California  and 
Oregon,  is  enabled  to  view,  along  portions  "f  the  "Shasta  Itoute," 
the  grandest  mountain  scenery  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  probably 
of  North  America.  While  something  has  been  writen  of  the  engi- 
neering difficulties  encountered  in  completing  this  line,  no  descrip- 
tion that  we  have  seen  gives  an  adequate  idea  of  what  has  been  over- 
come. 

Leaving  San  Krancisco  at  6.30  P.  M. ,  the  tourist  reaches  Delta,  "298 
miles  northward,  about  0.30  a.  m. ,  and  for  the  next  throe  liour.s  is 
viewing  the  tremendous  scenery  upon  which  Mount  Shasta,  from  his 
snowy  heights,  looks  down. 

The  barrinr  that  occasioned  the  necessity  of  the  "  B'g  Bend  of  the 
Sacramento  "  was  one  of  the  huge  flanks  of  Shasta  that  plunges  down 
across  the  cafion  a  few  miles  above  Mossbrae  Falls.  From  this  point, 
Eighteenth  Crossing,  to  Edgewood,  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles, 
the  route  is  along  the  foothills  of  Shasta,  the  highest  point  reached 
(near  Muir's  Peak)  being  nearly  4,000  feet. 

The  loadstone  of  the  scenery  everywhere  on  this  twenty-five  mile 
ride  is,  of  cours«!,  the  mountains.  The  eye  tnay  sweep  the  horizon 
around  and  meet  scenes  of  sublimity  on  every  hand  ;  but  it  turns 
instinctively  again  to  catch  the  first  Hashes  of  almost  supernatural 
light  that  gUam  down  through  the  grand  avenues  of  the  pines  and 
finally  burst  into  unobstructed  splendor  at  the  plateau  of  Straw- 
berry Valley. 


Words  fail  entirely  here  to  give  the  faintest  idea  of  the  solemn 
repose  and  unspeakable  grandeur  of  this  stately  giant  of  the  north, 
who  has  reared  his  cloud-capped  towers  and  icy-lava  cliffs  to  an  ele- 
vation of  more  than  two  verticle  miles  above  the  surrounding  land- 
scape. The  neighboring  peaks,  that  elsewhere  would  attract  general 
attention,  dwindle  into  insignificance  in  its  mighty  shadows. 
Where  once  the  lurid  glare  of  volcanic  fires  blazed  (Uit  from  this 
high  citadel,  there  is  now  eternal  hoar  frost,  ice,  snow  and  utter 
silence.  Glaciers  fill  its  ancient  lava  grooves ;  and  streams  of  the 
coldest  water  spring  from  the  crevasses  made  long  ago  by  the  burn- 
ing, fiery  lava. 

The  sublime  scenery  enjoyed  in  crossing  the  Siskiyou  Mountains 
is  presented  in  the  afternoon— Gregory,  409  miles  north  of  San 
Francisco,  being  reached  at  2.30  P.  M.,  Siskiyou  at  "2.55  p.  M.,  and 
the  day's  ride  terminating  with  a  short  stop  at  Ashland,  in  Oregon,  a 
little  after  5.00  o'clock.  The  Siskiyou  Mountains,  up  whose  ru.ged 
sides  the  grade  reaches  the  steep  pitch  of  174  feet  to  the  mile,  run 
at  right  angles  with  the  Cascades  and  form  a  natural  geographical, 
as  well  as  an  artificial.  State  line  between  California  and  Oregon. 

The  scenery  all  along  this  tortuous  route  from  State  line  to  the 
summit  an<l  down  into  the  Kogue  River  Valley  is  alive  with  interest. 
Before  entering  'I'uunel  No.  13,  going  north,  the  last  view  of  Cali- 
fornia is  had  :  and  it  is  an  appropriate  clo.sing  scene  in  the  great 
panoramic  e.\hibition  of  northern  California.  Down  the  northern 
slope  of  the  Siskiyous  to  Ashland  the  scenery  is  grandly  diversified 
by  forest,  field  and  stream,  by  mountain,  valley  and  plain. 

A  profile  of  the  long  curve  over  the  Siskiyous  would  show  to  the 
engineer  very  cleary  the  heavy  work  thnt  had  to  be  done  in  cutting 
a  pathway,  stfep  though  it  is,  ahing  the  rugged  mountain  sides, 
through  numerous  rocky  walls,  and  over  many  gorges  which  had  to 
be  spanned  with  costly  iron  bridges.  ;    .  !•.  •  t  '•  .'  ^•"•_  '. 

With  Ills  mind  excited  and  almost  overpoweftcl^jJ'tJieVweinspM"- 
ing  scenery,  anud  which  he  has  spent  the.tlay,  the,trn,vflv  jviy.coji- 
teutedly  retire  as  he  is  carried  over  the  stijj  i;u^^cctbu{  tos*  iiSippJipV^ 
scenery  of  southern  Oregon,  and  before  1  KO(f  o'clVd<*ftexWnSrnirg 
will  find  himself  in  Portland,  the  capital  of  that  new  and  wonder- 
fully growing  State. — From  Rnitmai/  At/f,  May  11.  1SS8. 


MT,    SHASTA    (14,442    FEET    HIEH),    FROM    SISSDN'S,    CAL, 


BLaCK   BUTTE    AND    MT,    SHASTA. 


.i  .•.«-« 


MT,    SHASTil,    FRDM    MDTT    STilTIDN, 


MDSS    BRAE    FALLS,    D,    &    C,    R,    R, 


mf^^  --^^^rt^^'^ ,  ^i  j|g 


MDSS    BRUE    FALLS,    D,    &    C,    R,    R 


CASTLE    ROCK,    FRDM    LOWER    SDEA    SPRIN&S, 


LC3P   RNU    TUNNEL    IS,    SISKIYDU    MOUNTAINS, 


CROSSING-    DF    SALRfiMENTD    RIVER,    D,    &    C,    R.    R. 


/.\::^:>:^-::  .^^•••- 


u 

□ 


a 

t-H 
1/1 

fC 

D 
D 
1-? 

H 
H 

H 
K 
H 

H 
W 


M 
U 

H 
H 


D 

pi 

u 

d 


HDRSESHDE,    D,    &  C,    R,    R. 


^ 


I 


MT,    Hnnn,    from    FORTLiiNfl, 


1 


